Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. Where did the oath-taking ceremony take place?

Answer: The oath-taking ceremony took place in Union Buildings of Pretoria.

Question 2. What promise does Mandela make in the beginning of opening of his oath-taking speech?

Answer: Mandela thanks all the international leaders and guests as he calls it an occasion of joy and victory for
Justice. He promises that the country shall not again experience the oppression of one by another.

Question 3. What ideals did Mandela set out for the future of South Africa in his speech?

Answer: Mandela set out ideals for the future of South Africa because he had deep feelings for his country and
countrymen. He pledged to liberate all the people from poverty, deprivation and discrimination.

Question 4. What freedom meant to Mandela in childhood? [CBSE 2015]

Answer: During childhood the meaning of freedom for Mandela was quite limited he considered it to be free
to run in the fields, to swim in the clear stream, free to roast mealies and ride the board backs of slow moving
bulls.

Question 5. Why did inauguration ceremony take place in the amphitheatre formed by the Union
Building in Pretoria?

Answer: It was the first democratic, non-racial government taking oath in South Africa. The ceremony was
attended by dignitaries from more than 140 countries around the world and thousands of the people of South
Africa of all the races to make the day memorable. So, it took place in, the amphiteatre formed by the Union
Building in Pretoria.

Question 6. What are the ideals which Mandela set for the future of South Africa in his swearing- in
ceremony?

Answer: Mandela emphasised to liberate all the people from poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other
discriminations in his swearing-in ceremony.

Question 7. What did Mandela think for oppressor and oppressed? [CBSE 2011]

Answer: Mandela always thought that both oppressor and oppressed are deprived of their humanity.
Oppressor is a prisoner of hatred while oppressed has no confidence in humanity so both of them need to be
liberated.
Question 8. What do you understand by Apartheid’?

Answer: ‘Apartheid’ is a political system that divides people according to their race. In this system black-
coloured people in South Africa were not free even to discharge their personal and social obligations of being
parents, sons and husbands, etc.

Question 9. Describe the effect of the policy of apartheid on the people of South Africa.

Answer: The policy of apartheid could not be considered fortunate for the people of South Africa. It created
distance and a deep wound in the country and the people. Many great men like Oliver Tambo, Walttr Sisulu,
Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fischer, etc were produced due to the brutality and oppression. They were men of great
character

Question 10. How is courage related to the brave man according to the author of the lesson?

Answer: The author believes that courage is not the absence of fear, but it is the triumph over it. The brave
man is not the one who does not feel fear of any kind but he is the one who has the courage to conquer it.

Question 11. Could everyone fulfil the obligations personal or social in South Africa?

Answer: No, everyone was not free to fulfil their obligations because of colour of the skin. If a person tried to
fulfil their obligations, they were punished and isolated for being a rebellion.

Question 12. What did Mandela realise about his brothers and sisters? [CBSE 2012]

Answer: Mandela realised that his brothers and sisters were not free in their own country due to their colour.
The freedom of everyone in his society was curtailed. He joined the African National Congress and fought for
the freedom.

Question 13. Why was Nelson Mandela changed into a bold man?

Answer: Nelson Mandela was changed into a bold man due to his . desire of the freedom for his country and
his countrymen. He wanted to live a life with dignity as he could not enjoy the limited freedom.

Question 14. What did Mandela think about the oppressor and the oppressed?

Answer: Mandela thought about the oppressor and the oppressed that both are robbed equally. A mail who
takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred. In the same way, if his freedom is taken away, they
both are without freedom. So both of them must be liberated.

Question 15. How did ‘hunger for freedom’ change Mandela’s life?

Answer: In the beginning of his life, Mandela was not aware about freedom. Later, Mandela found that his
freedom had been taken away from him. As a student, he wanted freedom only for himself but slowly his own
freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of his people. This changed him completely.
Question 16. What are the ‘twin obligations’ referred to by Nelson Mandela?

Answer: According to Nelson Mandela, every man has two obligations in life. The first obligation is to his
family, to his parents, wife and children. Secondly, he has an obligation to his country, people, and community.

Question 17. Could a man. according to Mandela, fulfil these twin obligations in a country like South
Africa?

Answer: No, these twin obligations could not be fulfilled by a man, in a country like South Africa, according to
Mandela. It was because a man of dark colour who attempted just to live as a human being was punished and
isolated in the country.

Question 18. What is the meaning of courage to Mandela?

Answer: According to Mandela, courage was not the absence of fear, but triumph over it. The brave man is not
he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Mandela learned the true meaning of courage from
his comrades in the struggle.

Question 19. What was unique in the inauguration ceremony?

Answer: The inauguration ceremony took place in the amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
For decades, this had been the seat of white supremacy. Now it was the oath taking ceremony day for South
Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government. It was really a unique occasion.

Question 20. Describe the inauguration ceremony in simple words?

Answer: It was the day of 10th May, 1994. The first democratic, non- racial government was to be installed.
Dignitaries from different countries participated in the ceremony. South African men, women and children of all
races were present there.

Question 21. Describe Mandela’s life journey from a prisoner to the first black President of south Africa.

Answer: Nelson Mandela did a life-long struggle against the racial discrimination in South Africa. He had to
pass many years of his life as a prisoner in the jail. At last the first democratic elections were held in South
Africa. His party won 252 seats out of400 and he became the first black President of South Africa.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1. What does Nelson Mandela refer to as “an extraordinary human disaster”?

Answer: Nelson Mandela refers to the apartheid policy of the white race against the black people as “an
extraordinary human disaster”. White people snatched freedom from the coloured people of South Africa to
whom the country belonged. The black people were subjected to oppression for long. They were not even
allowed to discharge their obligations to their own families, community and their country. White people had no
compassion for them and oppressed their own people and put them in prison. If they had some freedom, it
was curtailed. The black people lived the life of a slave.
Question 2. Describe the views of Mandela for the black people who fought and sacrificed their likes for
the country’s political independence?

Answer: Mandela always said that the political freedom was the result of sacrifices of thousands of the black
people who fought for that. He said that it could not be repaid. He thought himself as the sum of all of those
African patriots. He regretted that he could not thank them. He cursed the policy of apartheid that wounded
the people of his country, which would take centuries to heal.

He also said that the oppression and brutality of the white people produced great freedom fighters like Oliver
Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Luthuli, Dadoo, Fischer, Sobukwe and many more. They were the men of courage,
wisdom and large heartedness. They really suffered a lot for the political freedom of the country.

Question 3. What does Mandela mean to say that the oppressor and the oppressed alike are robbed of
their humanity?

Answer: Mandela is right in saying that the oppressor and the oppressed alike are robbed of their humanity.
Both of them are actually the victim of hatred. Everyone is obliged to discharge their duties whether personal
or social but without freedom a man cannot do so. The person who snatches this freedom of a man is really an
oppressor and a prisoner of hatred. He has lack of humanity. But this is the same with a person who is
oppressed by other.

Question 4. Describe the obligations which the author is talking about and also describe his feelings for
them?

Answer: In the chapter the author has talked about two obligation for every man. The first obligation is
towards his family, parents, his wife and children. The second is towards his community and his country. Being
a social person one has to fulfil these obligations.

But being a black coloured person in South Africa, a man was not free to perform his obligations and got
punished if he tried to do that.
Being a child the author never thought of such obligations but after he did so, he fought for the people and
the country to be free and enjoy their freedom of performing their duties personal and social.

Question 5. Describe the value of freedom for the human beings and how it is important for the growth
of civilisation and humanism as described in the lesson ‘Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to
Freedom’. [CBSE2014]

Answer: Everybody whether human or other creatures wants to live free as freedom is natural to all living
beings. The value of freedom is better known to that human being who has not tasted it till he gets it. A person
who is chained with the limits and not allowed to perform his duties freely, values freedom more than anyone
else. For instance the value of freedom is known better to Mandela who remained behind the bars most of his
life. Think about a bird or animal which is caged as they have the habit of living with full freedom but in the
cage they are not free and their conditions are very pitiable. Similarly, life becomes a hell if we are deprived of
freedom. There is no growth of civilisation as it grows only when one has freedom. Similarly, humanism grows
in the atmosphere of freedom.